The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth offers practical guidance for teams and organizations who are serious about success in the modern economy. With so much riding on innovation, creativity, and spark, it is essential to attract and retain quality talent--but what good does this talent do if no one is able to speak their mind? The traditional culture of "fitting in" and "going along" spells doom in the knowledge economy. Success requires a continuous influx of new ideas, new challenges, and critical thought, and the interpersonal climate must not suppress, silence, ridicule or intimidate. Not every idea is good, and yes there are stupid questions, and yes dissent can slow things down, but talking through these things is an essential part of the creative process. People must be allowed to voice half-finished thoughts, ask questions from left field, and brainstorm out loud; it creates a culture in which a minor flub or momentary lapse is no big deal, and where actual mistakes are owned and corrected, and where the next left-field idea could be the next big thing. In the final part of the book, Edmondson sets out a ‘leader’s toolkit’ for creating a ‘fearless organization’. It is straightforward (at least on paper - no doubt it is harder to actually put into practice!) with just three steps. Setting the Stage

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The first part introduces the basic ideas and understanding of psychological safety, and also gives a brief history of the subject and of the growing interest in it. She asked a question. “Was everything as safe as you would like it to have been this week with your patients?”5 The question – genuine, curious, direct – was respectful and concrete: “this week,” “your patients.” Its very wording conveys genuine interest. Curiosity. It makes you think. Interestingly, she did not ask, “did you see lots of mistakes or harm?” Rather, she invited people to think in aspirational terms: “Was everything as safe as you would like it to be?” Solvay Business School Professor Paul Verdin and I developed a perspective that frames an organization's strategy as a hypothesis rather than a plan.62 Like all hypotheses, it starts with situation assessment and analysis –strategy's classic tools. Also, like all hypotheses, it must be tested through action. When strategy is seen as a hypothesis to be continually tested, encounters with customers provide valuable data of ongoing interest to senior executives.” A productive response is concerned with future impact. Punishment sends a powerful message, and an appropriate one if boundaries were clear in advance. Indeed, it is vital to send messages that reinforce values the company holds dear. However, it is equally vital not to inadvertently send a message that says, “diverse opinions simply won’t be tolerated here,” or “one strike and you’re out.” Such messages reduce psychological safety and ultimately erode the quality of the work. In contrast, a message that reinforces the values and practices of a learning organization is, “it’s okay to make a mistake, and it’s okay to hold an opinion that others don’t like, so long as you are willing to learn from the consequences.” The most important goal is figuring out a way to help the organization learn from what happened. And so, if there is ambiguity about public self-expression related to company policies, then a productive response is one that engages people in a learning dialogue to better understand and improve how the company functions. If leaders want to unleash individual and collective talent, they must foster a psychologically safe climate where employees feel free to contribute ideas, share information, and report mistakes.This is about framing or reframing the work to set shared expectations about uncertainty and failure, and to identify why the work matters and for whom. Edmondson makes the important point that not all failures should be treated and celebrated in the same way. She sets out definitions and common causes of different types of failures and describes how they should be handled. Inviting Participation For knowledge work to flourish, the workplace must be one where people feel able to share their knowledge! This means sharing concerns, questions, mistakes, and half-formed ideas.” Thanks to Romy for creating this Spotify playlist for the Psychological Safety meetup! It Includes The Safety Dance by Men Without Hats, and Safe And Sound by Capital Cities 😀https://www.youtube.com/embed/2IN7g2ETa7M?feature=oembed I’m a big fan of David Marquet. His book “ Turn The Ship Around” is an excellent example of not just great leadership, but also how to write a leadership book that’s actually useful and actionable.

The Fearless Organization

In her book, Amy encourages everybody to start the conversation on this topic with the help of her questionnaires. The reframe shows that leaders must establish and cultivate psychological safety to succeed in most work environments today. The leader is obliged to set direction for the work, to invite relevant input to clarify and improve on the general direction that has been set, and to create conditions for continued learning to achieve excellence. In the reframe, those who are not the boss are seen as valued contributors — that is, as people with crucial knowledge and insight. Leaders in a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) world, who understand that today’s work requires continuous learning to figure out when and how to change course, must consciously reframe how they think, from the default frames that we all bring to work unconsciously to a more productive reframe. Framing the work is not something that leaders do once, and then it’s done. Frequently calling attention to levels of uncertainty or interdependence helps people remember that they must be alert and candid to perform well. Inviting Participation Leadership at its core is about harnessing others' efforts to achieve something no one can achieve alone.”Extreme candor - no one has the right to hold a critical opinion without speaking up about it" (109). Personal note : this could probably be taken too far how psychologically safe a person feels strongly shapes the propensity to engage in learning behaviors, such as information sharing, asking for help, or experimenting. It also affects employee satisfaction (14) It’s important to note that working in a psychologically safe environment does not mean that people always agree with one another for the sake of being nice. It also does not mean that people offer unequivocal praise or unconditional support for everything you have to say. Psychological safety is not an “anything goes” environment where people are not expected to adhere to high standards or meet deadlines. It is not about becoming “comfortable” at work. Psychological safety enables candor and openness and, therefore, thrives in an environment of mutual respect.

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emphasizing a sense of purpose... Motivating people by articulating a compelling purpose is a well - established leadership task (166)Another super powerful way of creating cohesion amongst a team unified towards a shared goal, is to create a “Team Charter”. Team charters describe, through a collective and inclusive team co-creation exercise, everything about a team, from the members, goals, roles and responsibilities, to their rituals, practices and customers. Here’s a fantastic set of Team Charter Canvases shared by Miro: